Brent Bozo's organization, NewsBusters, gets NewsBusted

[ck4829]

One of the more prolific bloggers at the Media Research Center's NewsBusters weblog is contributing editor Mark Finkelstein, a Republican and conservative activist whose main claim to fame is hosting a public-access cable TV talk show in Ithaca, N.Y.

With his NewsBusters posts, however, Finkelstein is quickly acquiring another claim to fame: making misleading claims.

Misrepresenting Matthews

The target of many of those misleading claims is MSNBC's Chris Matthews. Finkelstein has repeatedly taken Matthews' words out of context to misrepresent his views.

For instance, a Jan. 4 NewsBusters post by Finkelstein claimed there was a "a very rare display of real anger" between Matthews and NBC "Today" host Matt Lauer during MSNBC's coverage of the swearing-in of the new Democratic-controlled Congress. In Finkelstein's words (boldface and italics are his):

Lauer: "Well, but, you say they're going to try to finesse it. In reality, Chris, they don't have a choice. What are they going to do, suggest they cut funding while troops are still in the ground in Iraq? They can't do that."

That got Matthews's Irish up. Clearly flashing some anger, he responded: "Well, that's a political assessment by you, Matt. I think the Democrats have to decide whether they want to climb aboard this catastrophe or not."

That snippet, and the video Finkelstein supplied, conveniently cut off at that point -- thus avoiding having to show evidence that undermines his claim about Matthews' "anger." Here's the full excerpt of what Matthews said:

MATTHEWS: Well, that’s a political assessment by you, Matt. I think the Democrats have to decide whether they wanna climb aboard this catastrophe or not. Do they want to be partners in the continued war in Iraq? That’s a tough call. I agree with you. It’s a tough call to say, “We’re gonna stand up to the president, say he cannot fight the war the way he wants to fight it.” But the other alternative is that they go along with the war, and they become partners in this war for the next two years.

That's right -- mere seconds after Matthews was purportedly "angry" with Lauer, Matthews said to him, "I agree with you." How is that "angry"?

...

Strange claims

In a Feb. 2 post noting Katie Couric's support of "universal vaccination for the human papillomavirus, HPV, for girls," Mark Finkelstein cited as evidence that the issue is "highly-controversial" and that "(m)any traditionalists are strongly opposed to mandatory vaccinations for girls as young as 11" a column on the subject from the Independent Women's Forum. But in the section of the column Finkelstein excerpts, the author, Charlotte Allen, rails against something no proponent of mandatory HPV vaccination has argued for -- that it gives 9-year-olds the green light to have sex.

A Jan. 13 NewsBusters post bashed Democratic Rep. Steven Kagen for having "insulted First Lady Laura Bush, President Bush, Vice-President Cheney and Karl Rove at a White House function for new members," then played guilt by association -- because Kagen was once "the Allergy Consultant for CNN," that somehow meant CNN is to blame for Kagen's remarks as well. "You can take the man out of CNN - and stick him in Congress - but you can't take the CNN out of the man," Finkelstein wrote, adding, "What kind of person would do something like this? The kind of person that CNN would hire to be a consultant." Nowhere did Finkelstein offer evidence that 1) Kagen is still CNN's allergy consultant; 2) Kagen was hired by CNN specifically because he was a Democrat; and 3) Kagen's comments for CNN on the subject of allergies were somehow liberally biased.

Hostile statements

A Jan. 28 NewsBusters post cheered Fox News' Brit Hume for insulting John Kerry: "Hume wryly unloaded this haymaker on the Massachusetts senator of baleful Gallic mien: 'Is it really fair to John Kerry to argue, Bill, that when he's in Switzerland he's away from home?' Brit was alluding to the fact that Kerry had attended an elite Swiss boarding school." Earlier in the day, Finkelstein criticized Hillary Clinton for engaging in similar rhetoric; by issuing the "threat" that "When you are attacked, you have to deck your opponent, and that is what I believe you do," Finkelstein declared that Hillary "went Mike Tyson on us."

More examples of inflammatory statements by Finkelstein:

He sniped at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a Jan. 27 post: "Did anyone really believe that Nancy Pelosi's recent whirlwind visit to Iraq was truly the 'fact-finding' mission she billed it to be? I doubt it."

After noting that Barack Obama earned a college major in political science with a specialization in international relations, Finkelstein sniped in a Jan. 24 post: "What kind of world-view do you think was inculcated in international-relations major Obama at hyper-liberal Columbia?"

* In a Jan. 23 post, Finkelstein got alliteratively snide, asserting that Hillary Clinton engaged in "meretricious mirth" and "feigned frivolity" and declared that "Hillary gets way too much credit for winning" her Senate seat in New York because "registered Dems outnumber Republicans by 2 million, and Hillary ran first against a 'C'-list opponent and then against a virtual non-entity who didn't really bother to campaign."

* In a Dec. 4, 2006, post, Finkelstein claimed that Murtha was suffering from "breathtaking megalomania seasoned with anti-Americanism."

* In a Nov. 26, 2006, post, Finkelstein noted that a Des Moines Register reporter showed some "delightful Midwestern understatement" by noting that Hillary Clinton "is believed to be weighing a campaign for the Democratic nomination," then added: "Indeed. And in tonight's Nature documentary, a ravenous crocodile was believed to be weighing a run at the wildebeest crossing the river."

* In a Nov. 5, 2006, post, Finkelstein dismissed a editorial in the Army Times and related publications supporting the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld because the newspapers are "nothing more than cogs in the Gannett chain, a member-in-good-standing of the MSM whose flagship paper is the reliably-liberal USA Today." Finkelstein offers no evidence that every Gannett-owned paper must follow the editorial policies of USA Today. Finkelstein's suggestion that getting rid of Rumsfeld is an inherently "liberal" position conflicts with the fact that numerous Republicans had been critical of Rumsfeld's performance during the war. (A few days later, following midterm elections that turned control of Congress to Democrats, Rumsfeld did indeed resign.)

* From a June 29, 2006, post: "If she was watching 'Today' this morning, you can imagine Hillary Clinton using her best North-Korean-parliament rhythmical clapping in response to what she saw. It might be 'ronery' in her Georgetown or Chappaqua spreads, but it's always heart-warming to know you've got friends at the highest-rated morning show."

* In a July 7, 2006, post, Finkelstein bashed MSNBC's Joe Scarborough for apologizing for saying that if Osama bin Laden were caught, "Democrats, George Bush's nemesis, would say 'Well, it's not really that big of a deal anyway, because Americans are dying in Iraq.'" Finkelstein wrote: "Really, Joe? If Hillary, Nancy and Harry woke up tomorrow, turned on the tube, and saw that OBL were caught, you honestly think they'd be happy?"

Despite such inflammatory rhetoric, Finkelstein found time in a Dec. 12, 2006, post to attack Media Matters blogger Eric Alterman for being "one angry guy" who "vents his bile" and whose "anger burns so brightly that it blots out his substance."

For Finkelstein, it's not just his anger that "blots out his substance"; it's all those misleading and just plain strange claims.

http://conwebwatch.tripod.com/stories/2007/nbfinkelstein.html

[meegbear]

1. Good ol' ConWebWatch!

A great site for info of repug's goings on web-wise. :thumbsup:

[Gman]

2. Newsbusters is a blatant ripoff of the successful Media Matters

and doesn't even compare. MM is very professionally and objectively done. Newsbusters doesn't really care about truth as long as they smear a liberal.

[KharmaTrain]

3. How To Grease The Hate Radio Wheels

Great stuff here...thank you for posting it. This calls into play the abuse of freedom of speech and the ability of a "private" person to attack and slander a "public person" with little need for accuracy or accountability.

The growth of corporate hate radio in recent years has created a dilemna for prospective wingnut talkers. The competition is fierce...as every host attempts to create "bona fides" that define him/her from the other fire spewer. What's happened is similar to what occured to many "shock jocks"...each one needing to out shock or insult the next guy in order to get attention and listeners.

One easy way to get that attention is to make some outrageous claim or slander someone and watch it rattle around the internet and into the corporate media. A classic example is Melanie Morgan in SF whose antics are well documented...the more obnoxious and boistrous she becomes, the more she gets booked to talk to Tweety on a national scale or gets tons of free publicity on right wing websites. It's the "squeaky wheel getting the grease".

For years, goons like Finkelstein have operated in the shadows...a paid gun whose part of a larger Repugnican money/slime machine that all but compromised the "beltway journalist" crowd and is funded by some very deep pockets. We got a good peek at that in the Gannon/Gunkert scandal and Finkelstein is cut of the same cloth...another "disciple" of Morton Blackwell.